1. "Oracle Sues SAP for ‘Corporate Theft,’ "
March 23, CIO.com
News from IT companies is rarely of the jaw-dropping variety, but the lawsuit Oracle slapped SAP with this week is nothing short of stunning. Oracle alleges that IP addresses originating at a U.S. SAP subsidiary were used to illegally access Oracle’s customer support computer systems thousands of times and that SAP employees used log-in credentials of Oracle customers to copy software and support materials. The lawsuit alleges that SAP violated federal laws related to computer fraud and abuse (and a similar California law) and engaged in intentional negligent interference to obtain economic advantage. It also contends SAP engaged in unfair competition and civil conspiracy. Besides naming SAP as a defendant, Oracle filed the lawsuit against 50 unnamed individuals it says worked at SAP and whose identities it aims to uncover as its investigation continues.

2. "U.S. Agencies Given Deadline to Secure XP, Vista Configurations,"
March 21, Computerworld
U.S. government agencies are setting a good example, with a deadline established by de facto federal CIO Karen Evans for them to implement a common security configuration setting for Windows XP and Vista systems using standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other standards bodies. Agencies have until Feb. 1, 2008, to make the implementations, but they have until just May 1 of this year to tell the White House Office of Management and Budget their plans. Developed by NIST, the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft and others, the standards establish basic configuration settings to secure Windows XP and Vista against common classes of threats. Government CIOs have to offer details on plans to test the configurations in nonproduction environments, how they will implement and automate enforcement of the settings and how they will restrict administration of the configurations. They’ve also got to be able to install Microsoft patches when new vulnerabilities are disclosed.

3. "Microsoft to Release VoIP Server Beta on Monday,"
March 21, InfoWorld
Microsoft will make available for public download the beta versions of its unified communications server and client software on Monday. Office Communications Server 2007, the company’s voice-over-IP (VoIP) server software, and Office Communicator 2007, its application for mobile devices, will be included in the beta. The software is compatible with gateways, phones and other servers that companies might already be using, according to a Microsoft executive. The server has been integrated with Office 2007, and both bits of the beta release have instant-messaging and video-conferencing functions.